India, Aug. 19 -- The Australian dollar weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday, despite Australia's consumer confidence improving to a three-and-a-half year high in August as the central bank is expected to lower interest rates further after a third reduction this year. Data from Westpac-Melbourne Institute showed that consumer sentiment index rose to 98.5 in August from 93.1 in July. The improvement followed a further reduction in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia. With the latest 25 basis points cut, interest rates dropped by 75 basis points since the start of the year.
Moreover, the bank forecast suggested that interest rates will likely need to be a little lower to keep the economy on trac...